The Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of International Trade Diversification, will be in Manitoba November 1. His trip is part of the federal trade diversification strategy that connects "innovative, ambitious and hard-working Canadians" to more global markets. In downtown Winnipeg, the Taste of Trade event will take place in which Carr will meet with agricultural producers,... Read More
Category: Agriculture Policy
Wednesday evening was exciting for more than just Halloween in the town of Churchill, Manitoba. For the first time in more than a year residents heard a train whistle coming from the Hudson Bay Rail Line. The rail line was badly damaged by flooding in the spring of 2017 and, with no year-round roads into... Read More
In mid September, the federal government announced the list of prescribed regions eligible for drought-related livestock tax deferral. The break was welcomed, however ranchers and producer groups criticized the government's approach, saying it left out too many drought-affected producers. Announced October 31st, the federal government says it is taking steps to answer some of that... Read More
When we think about cyber hacking, things like election tampering or credit card theft likely come to mind. A recent U.S. Department of Homeland Security report, however, focused on the very real threat of breaches and hacking of precision agriculture data. As tough as it has been for some to even conceptualize what data being... Read More
Legislation to enable the Saskatchewan government's climate strategy was introduced in the provincial legislature Tuesday. This will allow components of Prairie Resilience, the province's climate strategy plan, to move forward. Bill 132, the Management and Reduction of Greenhouse Gases Amendment Act, implements the regulatory framework required to establish performance standards to reduce industrial greenhouse gas... Read More
In a quest to create more export opportunities to Asia for Alberta oil, the Alberta government is asking the federal government to get involved, suggesting the feds invest in oil tanker cars and locomotives. It's estimated the Canadian economy is losing $40 million per day due to heavily discounted product entering the United States. But... Read More
Canada's federal agriculture minister has struck working groups in relation to recent international trade deals and their impact on Canada's supply managed sectors. Of note, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says that there will be two working groups for dairy. These two groups, comprised of dairy farmers, government, researchers, dairy industry representatives, and processors, will focus... Read More
The news The premiers of Saskatchewan and Ontario have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the intention of improving and increasing trade between the two provinces. According to a just-released report, Sizing Up Provincial Trade Barriers, from BMO Capital Markets, the impact from free interprovincial trade could amount to $50 billion in total in ten... Read More
A group of self described 'like-minded' World Trade Organization (WTO) members met in Ottawa this week. The WTO reform was hosted by Jim Carr, minister of international trade diversification for Canada. Not included in this ‘like-minded’ group was Canada's closest neighbour and largest trading partner, the U.S. China also not included. The meeting, which took... Read More
AT ISSUE The Ontario government recently announced extensive amendments to Bill 148, the former Liberal government's labour and wage reform bill which included a phased-in minimum wage hike. Included in the new "Making Ontario Open for Business Act," is a freeze on the next planned jump in the minimum wage, from $14/hour to $15/hour, until... Read More